diff --git a/docs/modeltranslation/conf.py b/docs/modeltranslation/conf.py
index e83c89c..8433ac6 100644
--- a/docs/modeltranslation/conf.py
+++ b/docs/modeltranslation/conf.py
@@ -16,14 +16,14 @@ import sys
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '../..')))
 
 try:
-    import modeltranslation
+    from importlib.metadata import version
     # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement
     # for |version| and |release|, also used in various other places throughout
     # the built documents.
-
+    #
     # The full PEP386-compliant version number version, including
     # normalized alpha/beta/rc/dev tags (e.g. '0.5a1').
-    release = modeltranslation.__version__
+    release = version("django-modeltranslation")
 
     # The short X.Y version (e.g.'0.5').
     version = '.'.join(i for i in release.split('.')[:2])
diff --git a/modeltranslation/__init__.py b/modeltranslation/__init__.py
index ddefab6..3c9a8c3 100644
--- a/modeltranslation/__init__.py
+++ b/modeltranslation/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-from pathlib import Path
-
 try:
     from django import VERSION as _django_version
 
@@ -7,5 +5,3 @@ try:
         default_app_config = 'modeltranslation.apps.ModeltranslationConfig'
 except ImportError:
     pass
-
-__version__ = (Path(__file__).parent.parent / "VERSION").read_text().strip()
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 4a75532..e50f0c1 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = django-modeltranslation
-version = attr:modeltranslation.__version__
+version = file:VERSION
 description = Translates Django models using a registration approach.
 long_description = file:README.rst
 long_description_content_type = text/x-rst
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ license = New BSD
 install_requires =
     Django>=2.2
     six
+    importlib-metadata; python_version<"3.8"
 packages =
     modeltranslation
     modeltranslation.management